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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fly plugins”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “fly plugins”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 5 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Ascending Posts by Fly Plugins shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 339 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (166) wp.org #3 4 Realtyna Organic IDX plugin + WPL Real Estate 1K+ · 4.7★ (203) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #11 ↑2 5 too low 7 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Simple Social Media Share Buttons – Social Sharing for Everyone 20K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #10 11 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #14 ↑10 2 too low 13 Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Modal Fly Cart & AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Resize Image After Upload 80K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.1★ (135) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 80K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 WP SVG Images 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Multi Page Auto Advance for Gravity Forms 2K+ · 4.3★ (20) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 too low 23 Ascending Posts by Fly Plugins 400+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 PDF Viewer Block for Gutenberg 10K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.